Dales and Lakes Bicycle Tour 2020: Day 4 (part ii)


Approaching Ullswater


I had already been riding for a while before I got to Howtown. Stopping to smell the flowers and get their photo takes time.



River Lowther near Rosgill


The Howtown Hotel has a pub at the back where I have often supped a pint after dropping down off High Street. The pub was closed so I walked back past their coffee shop and out to the front of the hotel overlooking Ullswater. 

The gardens were immaculate, not a blade or thorn out of place. The waiter took my order at the door and I sat on the cast iron bench basking in the Indian summer as a ferry sailed by down the lake.

I imagined the place harked to a bygone Imperial Age, a throwback to days of The  Raj and after a spiffing game of croquet on the lawn I sipped on my Pimm's, fine dining on smoked salmon, roast pheasant, quails eggs and foie gras. I rejected the Dom Perignon and caviar as I was full of beer and cheese and onion crisps.

I re-discovered my appetite at the coffee shop which served high quality turkey and cranberry sandwiches. The shop was almost as well-maintained as the garden.

Ideally I wanted to catch a ferry to avoid the busy western shore but it was not to be. Pooley Bridge was living back up to it's name. The road surface was still being finished but pedestrians were allowed to make the newly repaired  river crossing (floods washed away the old bridge in 2015). 

I made Glenridding intending to camp there, but I climbed up the steep lane at the rear of the town to Gillside Farm only to find it closed.

Having survived another short stint on the western side of the lake I turned off onto the A5091 alongside the National Trust's Aira Force beauty spot.


Across to the sunny side

Docker Fell is not one of the most famous Lakeland mountain passes. It deserves to be. It's not quite as steep or remote as some others and it even has an A-road running over it. A proper climb it most certainly is; one that keeps going up and up with a healthy enough gradient. 

Traffic was light and the shade from the forest most welcome on such a hot day. Higher up I could see right across the sunny valley to my right and make out tiny figures completing their day out on the fells. I knew they would be buzzing.


Up on Docker. Note the new roll mat I bought in Glenridding. 
The next few nights were forecast to be chilly.


Eventually the road levelled out onto a more open plateau and I caught my first glimpse of the distinctive saddleback features of Blencathra, duskily peeking over the distant plantation as the light faded.


A sneaky peek of Blencathra


Descending was more gradual as I dropped down towards Troutbeck (the other one!). A welcome sign for Gill Head Farm promised sanctuary and I pulled in. This was a new camp site for me.

The warden empathised when I asked for a pitch.

"You'll only go and cycle on another twenty miles over some mountains if I say no!" she joked.

"I've just done that from Glenridding when there was no room at the inn there" I replied dryly.

One tent, one person, one night cost £10. It's a very large site with excellent facilities.  There are a number of fields, widely spread, catering for a broad church of campers. I chose the  most  far-flung corner overlooking Blencathra, still just visible across the darkening valley. I prepared for a cold night.

I was very excited at the thought of revisiting one of my favourite places on the planet.



Route: Day 4


Day 5



Comments

  1. welshpaddlerFebruary 21, 2021 at 3:34 AM

    Enjoyed. Hardcore to carry a Kelly kettle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BowlanderFebruary 21, 2021 at 4:11 AM

      Thanks. The smaller Kelly fits nicely in my saddlebag. More on that later.

      Delete

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